Guitar identification

[DomN8R]

I'd send you the car, but I think our customer would come hunt you down- after beating your name outa me, lol. My shop has a facebook page- if you're interested, search for "Joe's Restorations" on facebook. My wife set it up, I don't know facebook from phonebook. The shop is actually called "Average Joe's Restorations", and there's a facebook page under that name, but it developed some sort of problem and can't be deleted. It's still there but there aren't any photos- Joe's has hundreds of pics of our projects. Both have a 95 Cobra convertible we built as the, err...site photo? I'm pretty computer savy, but this social networking business has me stupefied.
We're pretty proud of the shop, it was kind of a spur-of-the-moment thing. I'm a retired airline pilot, and my partner retired after 22 years in the Air Force...we've been building hotrods since high school, and we just figured "what the heck?" Apparently it was a good move, we've been swamped since we opened.

Thanks for the tip re: Keith. I'm no bass player, unfortunately. I'd like to learn, it doesn't look particularly difficult, (I'm sure all the bass players are gonna scream at me for THAT) but I barely have time these days to bang on my six strings. I tried to play eruption last night- which I used to know second nature, I spent alot of time learning it- and I just forgot what came next. Couldn't pull it out of my brain or my butt, lol. I had to listen to it on cd and essentially relearn it. I hate that- if I hadn't been thinking about it, I think my fingers could have played it just fine, but stupid me, I got my brain involved. Anyone else experience that, or is it just me? Maybe I have a tumor...

I think I'd like to try one of those axis gee-tars. I like the look of 'em, and you guys all seem to swear by 'em. The last "serious" guitar I bought was the Gibson SG robot...cost me nearly 2 grand on Musician's friend, and its...well, I won't say pos, but, let's just say it's a really cool gadget and a fairly decent guitar. Being able to go from standard to say, drop d almost on the fly is neat, but how often do you need that? I just do what I've always done- change guitars! The pickups are a disappointment, and the overall feel is just odd. Maybe it's just me, I'm kind of old school.

Cheers!

James

 

[Jack FFR1846]

Have fun with the OLP. You'll probably find issues if you use the trem. Throw in 5 springs and crank it down. Check out the frets for both being all the way in the neck and being level. I started out with an OLP Benji and then got the bug....got a Musicman Sub 1, then Axis Super sport, the Axis, then Al.... But once I set up that OLP, it played pretty well. Great learning guitar. I sold it to one of the guys I work with as he wanted to learn and I was moving on to Musicman.

Be careful with the edges of the guitar. The maple top on the body and headstock of an OLP are very, very thin laminate and will peel off pretty easily if it starts to lift.

 

[DomN8R]

Thanks for the tips- I gave it to my wife, she loves it...she's just learning, so her criteria are as follows 1. it's pretty and 2. it doesn't hurt my fingers too much.
I don't think it's particularly pretty, but she does, which is all that matters. She married me, so the woman obviously has poor vision.
I put super slinky's on it and tweaked the truss rod a bit, hit a couple of frets with a file, and it's about as close to perfect as you could get, I think. Surprisingly good for a budget guitar, which is what interests me about the "real" version- if a low end copy is this playable, the original must be better, right?

So which model should I look for? I know nothing- nothing- about the EB guitars. I'm a pretty good player, I think, although certainly no EVH. Like most folks, I play what I grew up listening to and played back in high school, 70's and early 80's hard rock and metal, although I do like to play some blues. I'm not a fan of the speed metal/ death metal crap, more Judas Priest/Black Sabbath/Saxxon/Krokus-y stuff. I like fast, challenging licks, although I screw 'em up alot unless I'm having a really good day, haha. Maiden's "The Trooper" just kills me- one day I can get through it pretty decent, the next I sound like I dropped the guitar down a flight of stairs. Ah well, if it was easy it wouldn't be worth doing, right?

So any suggestions? Which model will suit my genre best?

Thanks guys!

James

 

[threeminutesboy]

Most EBMM guitars are extremely versatile so it's just how you bond with the neck, the shape. Coming from Gibson Epi world I can recommend either Axis Super Sport or Reflex for even more flexibility. You can find a lot of them on Ebay.

As for wood you have basswood with Maple top (the reflex is chambered). fretboard could be maple or rosewood, with trem or not

Basic sound is somewhere between Gibson and Fender but with it's own personality. On the ASS the routing is as follow
Pos1 Bridge
Pose2 External coil of both humbucker (kinda tele sound)
Pos3 Both Humbuckers
Pos4 Inner coil of both humbucker (kinda strat sound)
Pos5 Neck Pickup

this is the one I use the most for live performance because I have a piezo option that add some acoustic capability

If you can used to the shape I will also recommend Albert Lee with MM90 (Ash Body, 5 way switch a la strat)

 

[DomN8R]

Thanks! That's alot of good information, you should sell guitars for a living.
I'm definitely going to track one down- I don't even know the price range, what would a good price be on an Axis super sport? I didn't research the Gibson robot I bought very well, and ended up finding it for several hundred cheaper a month later. Musician's friend usually has good prices, so I just bought it without shopping around.

I like the versatility of the 5 position switch, especially. I spent alot of time chasing particular sounds with my older tube amps, and finally got spoiled with the Spider IV half stack- I like the tube amps alot, but maintenance can be a pain, and rolling through a couple of hundred presets on the line 6 is so nice compared to dealing with a string of effects- at least when just sitting around playing for grins. Lazy and SS, yes, but I'm essentially a lazy guy. (The spider IV is still what I'd consider a step or two above "toy", but the IV is miles ahead of the III.)

I guess I'm on a mission to find an ass now, lol...

Thanks, man

James